The gateway of giving

Luke 16:10

“He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.”

 

 

introduction:

With many Christians, when the subject of giving is brought up it is met with frowns and feelings of regret. There may be an immediate feeling of guilt or obligation, or maybe even suspicious thoughts that they are about to be squeezed for money, as if they are hearing from the godfather instead of God the father! Giving is about far more than just money! Today, I want to delve deeper into this subject of giving and what scripture teaches us about its purpose, power, and what God desires as the result. As stated in Luke 16:10, giving and stewardship are the beginnings, the foundation upon all spiritual blessings manifesting in this life by faith. Giving is the gateway to our living in faith.

 

Faith and grace work together.

Grace is a completed work by Jesus’ atonement. Faith is how we access the supply.

They must work together in tandem, never to be separated unless you go into error, as taught in Ephesians 2: 8-9.

 

God is faithful.

He never asks us to do anything that he doesn’t already do!

When you give and God gives back, this isn’t an exception it is the standard. It is a spiritual law!

 

Wrong teaching

Wrong teaching keeps the church in the Old Testament view of God’s wrath, condemnation, and judgment. We no longer give out of fear and obligation. We are not under the law anymore! Galatians 3: 13 teaches us that we have been redeemed from the curse of the law.

We must view all the Old Testament, with new covenant eyes. In the Old Testament God said, “I will”, in the new covenant Jesus says, “I have”.

The promises, commands and covenants are still valid, but the joy we receive on top of those now is that all the anger and threats are gone!

Only those who love God intimately will see this as freedom and liberty from sin and death, not a pass to sin and live for yourself. In Malachi 2: 1-9 and 3: 8, where God said, “I will not forgive” and “you will be cursed”, Jesus said in Titus 2: 11-14 “all have been forgiven”.

Begging is not scriptural. There is no faith in that. We must measure every moment of our lives as if it is God’s will, based on whether it is being done in faith. As new creatures we are creatures of faith! It is the element we were made to live in!

 

Motive is more important than what you give.

Give out of love for God and people not to receive. Faith works by love as taught in Galatians 5: 6.

2Corinthians 9: 7 teaches us to give as we purpose in our hearts.

1^st Corinthians 13:3 teaches us that without God’s kind of love it profits us nothing. If we are not living in God’s kind of faith, we will not see his blessings manifest in our lives!

We must see God as our source for all things. He only moves through his people. If one person fails to obey and believe him in his instruction, he will find another person to complete his will. God will get his blessing to you, one way or another when you have asked.

Because some will choose to pass on giving without condemnation. They will not see the blessing. No faith, no blessing.

In Psalms 50: 7 God’s issue was about the attitude of their heart when they were offering sacrifices.

In Psalm 50: 9 God doesn’t need our money he wants our faith and sacrifice of self for his pleasure and glory And so we can be blessed! Faith is a constant reminder to us of his grace. The sacrifices in the Old Testament were a constant reminder to his people of God’s mercy. Where before he required his people to rely on his mercy, now he requires his people to rely on his grace!

Many Christians give tithes and offerings but with the wrong motives.

 

Limiting God

If you haven’t allowed the Holy Spirit guide your hopes and imagination to grow to a point where you must need God and your motives are simply about you’re receiving, you are limiting God in your life and ministry. Install M 78: 41 his people turned back and tempted him and limited the holy one of Israel. We limit God by our small thinking! If you are only thinking of yourself and your needs, that is very, very small!

He is our source, not us! He wants us to see him as our source! If we are living breathing and able to work, it is because his grace allows it. Those proud people who think that they are truly in control of their lives, did not control their next heartbeat! There are many involuntary things that take place in this physical realm that we have no control over, that are only by the grace of God! We must learn to look at each circumstance in our lives with Thanksgiving. Instead of seeing our jobs and all of the negative aspects as a curse, we should be thankful that we are able to work and earn. You may feel as though all of that money is yours because you earned it, but you are only able to earn it because God allows it and gives you strength And health.

In James 2: 26 God teaches us that faith without works is dead. As we have been made active by God we should be active in faith only in order to please him! We are to prove he is our source. We do this by giving 10%. We need to trust him and thereby, glorifying him as taught in Malachi 3: 10.

In Psalm 75:6 he teaches us that it is God who sets up one and takes down another. We do not do this on our own! We must rely on God!

In Luke 6: 38 he promises to overwhelm us with blessings and give into our bosom. It all comes down to do you believe God or not? Do you value your life more than you value God?

God hates part time Christian attitudes. He wants all of you! He wants all of our mind our strength and our soul, as he teaches in mark 12: 30 because he loves you and wants to bless you! Whether you believe it or not, God wants to bless you more than you want to be blessed!

The only way to reach this point is by faith as we are taught in Hebrews 11: 6. Faith is the only thing that pleases God!

How do we reach this place of living in faith? God gets us to go “all in”, by saying to us trust me, consistently give me 10%, only a portion of what you have and I will be proven! Put God first! If you don’t believe it, it won’t work for you! Check the fruit that you are bearing in your lives and weigh it against these truths! Where is your belief?

God doesn’t need your money he wants you!

 

Not based on our performance

Faith doesn’t move God. Faith is our response to the grace that Jesus provided.

Everything that God commands us and wants us to do, is to be done by his faith, active faith! Everything! If we are doing something under our own abilities, or if we give only to a comfortable level, there is no faith required for that!

Grace is unconditionally provided but we must access it by faith. It isn’t based on our performance but by our faith.

In first kings chapter 17, Elijah had to go to the Ravens at the brook Sherith. God had already commanded the Ravens to be there and to feed Elijah. It had already been done, but he had to access it.

It takes faith to receive it, we do this by giving. We must learn the Kingdom principles and spiritual laws! If you have a need, give by faith to meet the need with the increase! It goes against all logic but is a spiritual law! God wants you to prove him! His blessings will be his testimony that you are to proclaim to the world!

 

The power of money and the transfer of wealth to the Kingdom

Jesus taught more about money than any other thing, because of how we value it and the power it possesses in this world.

In exodus 20: 1-2 God commands us to have no other gods before him. What occupies our hearts in our minds, and what motivates our actions at any given time is what we value most. God knows this!

The rich young ruler in mark chapter 10 approached Jesus asking what he must do to be saved. Jesus immediately knew his heart and questioned him about his motives. The man was unwilling to depart from all his possessions and follow Christ. He used the excuse that he was good enough under his own strength, because he had kept all the commandments. This was a lie and he lied to Christ. This proves that we need a savior! In Luke chapter 16 the steward stole but used money for a future position. God teaches us that we must use money as a tool and be wise with the outcome of its use!

Money has power but it isn’t good or evil. The way that it is used is what matters. In Luke 16: 9 and first Timothy chapter 6 God teaches us the love of money is the rate of all evil. Not money itself.

In proverbs 13: 22 it teaches that the wealth of the wicked is laid up for the just. There is and will be a great transfer of wealth from the world into the Kingdom here on earth. How it will happen is by the principle of faithful giving of tithes and offerings. Some people pray for God to give them money or possessions, but that is not scriptural. God will not counterfeit money or create it out of thin air! He will not grant you a lottery winning out of gambling, and he does not condone dishonesty and stealing in order to gain money.

Wealth and money have to come from somewhere, and it will come through people. He uses people to accomplish the transfer of wealth. In mark chapter 10: 30 he promises to give back to us 100-fold increase of what the cheerful giver gives in the Kingdom according to second Corinthians 9: 7. Doing this creates a vacuum in the world where money is transferred it has to come from somewhere! This is the will And plan of God!

 

Provisions of the atonement of Jesus

Before the atonement, our life circumstances were our “cup”, as shown in Matthew 20:22. After his atonement, faith is our cup, and we are to fill it to overflowing from the endless fountain of grace as shown in Colossians 2: 6.

For those who have received Jesus as their savior and Lord, our daily circumstances are only to be lived in faith according to how God sees it. He intentionally constructed salvation to bless us, to be pleased, and to glorify himself through his faith that he placed in us as new creatures.

In 2nd Corinthians 8: 9 we are taught that Jesus died for our prosperity by becoming poor. Prosperity is provided in the atonement! All those who judge and preach against health and wealth teachings, are preaching against the atonement!! We have been provided every spiritual blessing in heavenly places, through Christ Jesus as taught in Ephesians 1: 3-4.

All of these are to spread the gospel and give them away so that we may receive more to give, and so it goes.

2nd Corinthians 9: 8 shows us that it is for all good works that we are prosperous. It is the definition of spiritual prosperity. James chapter 4 teaches us that if you ask for yourself, you will not receive. The goal is to give, not receive! We are to seek first the Kingdom of God as it is taught in Matthew 6: 33.

Accessing every spiritual blessing by faith, starts by giving! Luke 1610 teaches us that if you are dishonest in the least of these which is money, you will be dishonest in greater things. You will not walk in faith with greater spiritual blessings and miracles if you won’t walk first in faith with giving. What do you value?

 

Give where you are spiritually fed.

We must be wise and evaluate where God wants us to give according to his word. Do you give to bad churches or dead churches? Are you giving to churches that have wrong teachings according to the New Testament? Are you giving to ministries and people who are begging? These are all places where we are not spiritually fed. First Corinthians 9: 7-11, Galatians 6: 6, and first Timothy 5: 17-18 all teachers to give where we are spiritually fed!

Those who beg are not in accordance with Ephesians 4: 28, that teaches we work so we can have, to give. 2nd Corinthians 9: 10 teaches us that God gives seed to those who will sew it. Not to those who eat it all.

Your local church should be where you tithe and give offerings, unless it is a dead church, or they are preaching in error according to the New Testament. If they are pressing you to give with condemnation and threats of God’s judgment or begging for you to give and showing no faith, or having no hope with plans of what God is leading them to do for the future growth of their church and ministry, you most likely are not being spiritually fed there. We are not supposed to give to the traditions and doctrines of men but to the glory of God!

Our giving is meant to support the spread of the gospel of Jesus Christ and to support ministries in churches who are actively moving in faith for the glorification of God!

 

Conclusion: all for the pleasure and glory of God!

In Revelations 4:11 we are taught ¹¹ Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

Let God show you his power and blessings by being obedient to his instructions of giving. Give of your time, give of your heart, give of your mind. If you need healing, lay hands on someone else who needs healing and pray over them. If you need deliverance, pray for those who need deliverance. If you need your finances to be blessed, be a blessing and give a portion of your finances to those in need and ministries who are preaching the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Covet the testimony and the glorification of God, that he will provide in your life by your obedient lifestyle of giving!

The gateway of giving supporting scriptures:

 

Based on 2nd Corinthians chapters 8 and 9

Galatians 5: 6- faith works by love.

Malachi chapter 3: 10-God’s promise/prove him.

Galatians 3: 13-we are redeemed from the law.

2nd Corinthians 9: 7-give as you purpose in your heart/ cheerful giver.

1^st Corinthians 13: three-without God’s kind of love it profits nothing.

Mark 10: 30- 100-fold in this life.

Psalm 50: 7 -attitude of giving.

Psalms 50: 9-God doesn’t need our money; he wants our heart.

Psalms 78: 41 -we limit God with our small thinking/ selfishness and disobedience.

James 2: 26-faith without works is dead.

Palms 75: 6-we must prove God.

Luke 6: 38-I will give unto your bosom. The extravagance of God.

Mark 12: 30-love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Hebrews 11: 6 -only faith pleases God.

1^st kings chapter 17-the Ravens were commanded before Elijah arrived.

Exodus 20: 1-2-no other gods before me.

Mark chapter 10-the rich young ruler

Luke chapter 16-the steward stole but used money for future position, which his master considered wisdom.

Colossians 3: 5 -idolatry

1^st Timothy chapter 6-love of money.

Proverbs 13: 22-transfer of wealth into the Kingdom.

2nd Corinthians 8: 9-the atonement was for prosperity included with salvation.

Ephesians 1: 3-4-every spiritual blessing.

2nd Corinthians 9: 8-all good work, the definition of prosperity.

James chapter 4-don’t ask for yourself.

Matthew 6: 33-seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness.

Luke 16: 10-if you are dishonest in the least of these, which is money.

1^st Corinthians 9: 7-11-give where you are spiritually fed.

Galatians 6: 6-give where you are spiritually fed.

1^st Timothy 5: 17-18-give where you are spiritually fed.

Malachi 3: 10-the storehouse is the church/ ministry.

Ephesians 4: 28-we work so we can have more to give.

2nd Corinthians 9: 10-seed is given to the sower not those who eat all the seed.